That is great that you're going to try one. I have always admired them and thought it would be beyond me to do one but I am glad I made the attempt. I look forward to seeing yours too!
I finally stopped by the store after work yesterday and got white thread to piece the backing together. I got a couple of spools of silk thread for the applique, blue, green, and yellow, but they didn't have any white.
I need to iron the backing and I hope to start the applique this weekend. I picked up some light weight fusible webbing and whatever way I decide to do the applique flowers and leaves I want to use fusible to hold them on. I figure the fusible doesn't matter when it will be hand quilted because they would be outline quilted anyway, not through the pieces.